The number of paediatric beds at Whipps Cross Hospital's children's Acorn Ward has been reduced from 27 to 20

The number of beds available for sick children at Whipps Cross Hospital has been temporarily reduced.

Due to a shortage of paediatric nursing staff at the children's Acorn Ward, the Leytonstone hospital has decided to reduce the number of outpatient beds from 27 to 20, but keep the number of day care beds at six.

The reduction will be in place until at least July 1 as the hospital, run by Barts Health NHS Trust, seeks to recruit a number of full-time paediatric and neonatal nurses.

The email seen by the Guardian was sent by group director Jane Hawdon and head of operations Clare Hogg of the hospital's women's and children's health clinical academic group.

The message to Ilford North and South MPs Mike Gapes and Lee Scott read: "We are currently experiencing a shortage of qualified paediatric nursing staff at Whipps Cross.

"Although we are actively recruiting to fill the vacancies with permanent staff, we are unable to safely staff the unit over the next eight weeks.

"We have therefore taken the decision to temporarily reduce the number of inpatient beds by seven to 20.

"This reduction will be in place until 1 July, and will enable us to consistently ensure we have the required level of qualified nursing staff to provide safe care at all times."

In order to ensure care if properly carried out, a daily review of staffing, capacity and demand is taking place, and any children requiring urgent or emergency care will be transferred to either Newham University Hospital or The Royal London Hospital if the hospital feels it is insufficient or unsafe to deal with the patients.

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It was recently confirmed that the number of inpatient beds at the hospital's stroke unit were cut from 27 to 19 in a bid to get more victims of stroke rehabilitated at home.

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Comments (11)

The number of paediatric beds at Whipps Cross Hospital's children's Acorn Ward has been reduced from 27 to 20

cynicalsue says...5:35pm Wed 21 May 14

I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.

I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.cynicalsue

I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.

Score: 1

kirstywright says...5:55pm Wed 21 May 14

Local elections tomorrow have your say get out and vote .

Local elections tomorrow have your say get out and vote .kirstywright

Local elections tomorrow have your say get out and vote .

Score: 2

Villagecranberry says...7:00pm Wed 21 May 14

Considering those from East Europe are giving birth at the hospital at rates of more than 7 kids a day there, free of charge, we can see where the problem lies.

Considering those from East Europe are giving birth at the hospital at rates of more than 7 kids a day there, free of charge, we can see where the problem lies.Villagecranberry

Considering those from East Europe are giving birth at the hospital at rates of more than 7 kids a day there, free of charge, we can see where the problem lies.

Score: 5

Andrewsharp1 says...12:09am Thu 22 May 14

cynicalsue wrote…

I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.

This issue is directly related to NHS cuts from central government. There is immense pressure on Barts Health to improve its finances. The pressure stems from the PFI payments for the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel which is a drain on Barts Health Trust's financial resources. This has caused a chain of events leading to low morale and staffing issues at Whipps causing a lack of beds for Waltham Forest's poorly kids. Please vote National Health Action Party in the European election on 22nd May. Contact me at NHAPartyWF@gmail.com if you wish to discuss issues and join the local NHA group for East London. Check out the party website. www.nhap.org

[quote][p][bold]cynicalsue[/bold] wrote:
I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.[/p][/quote]This issue is directly related to NHS cuts from central government. There is immense pressure on Barts Health to improve its finances. The pressure stems from the PFI payments for the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel which is a drain on Barts Health Trust's financial resources. This has caused a chain of events leading to low morale and staffing issues at Whipps causing a lack of beds for Waltham Forest's poorly kids.
Please vote National Health Action Party in the European election on 22nd May.
Contact me at NHAPartyWF@gmail.com if you wish to discuss issues and join the local NHA group for East London.
Check out the party website. www.nhap.orgAndrewsharp1

cynicalsue wrote…

I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.

This issue is directly related to NHS cuts from central government. There is immense pressure on Barts Health to improve its finances. The pressure stems from the PFI payments for the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel which is a drain on Barts Health Trust's financial resources. This has caused a chain of events leading to low morale and staffing issues at Whipps causing a lack of beds for Waltham Forest's poorly kids. Please vote National Health Action Party in the European election on 22nd May. Contact me at NHAPartyWF@gmail.com if you wish to discuss issues and join the local NHA group for East London. Check out the party website. www.nhap.org

Score: 1

Villagecranberry says...12:55am Thu 22 May 14

Andrewsharp1 wrote…

cynicalsue wrote…

I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.

This issue is directly related to NHS cuts from central government. There is immense pressure on Barts Health to improve its finances. The pressure stems from the PFI payments for the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel which is a drain on Barts Health Trust's financial resources. This has caused a chain of events leading to low morale and staffing issues at Whipps causing a lack of beds for Waltham Forest's poorly kids. Please vote National Health Action Party in the European election on 22nd May. Contact me at NHAPartyWF@gmail.com if you wish to discuss issues and join the local NHA group for East London. Check out the party website. www.nhap.org

Rubbish, demand is overwhelming and the more money is piled into the NHS, the more demand for the service. Like the food bank myth, offer free food, the demand increases. When the NHS is giving out luxuries like Boob jobs and Gastric Band procedures out like confetti, whilst people are waiting in the same queue for knee, hip and important surgery, even cancer surgery, one must realise that something is ridiculously wrong and the NHS after so many years, needs reform.

[quote][p][bold]Andrewsharp1[/bold] wrote:
[quote][p][bold]cynicalsue[/bold] wrote:
I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.[/p][/quote]This issue is directly related to NHS cuts from central government. There is immense pressure on Barts Health to improve its finances. The pressure stems from the PFI payments for the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel which is a drain on Barts Health Trust's financial resources. This has caused a chain of events leading to low morale and staffing issues at Whipps causing a lack of beds for Waltham Forest's poorly kids.
Please vote National Health Action Party in the European election on 22nd May.
Contact me at NHAPartyWF@gmail.com if you wish to discuss issues and join the local NHA group for East London.
Check out the party website. www.nhap.org[/p][/quote]Rubbish, demand is overwhelming and the more money is piled into the NHS, the more demand for the service.
Like the food bank myth, offer free food, the demand increases.
When the NHS is giving out luxuries like Boob jobs and Gastric Band procedures out like confetti, whilst people are waiting in the same queue for knee, hip and important surgery, even cancer surgery, one must realise that something is ridiculously wrong and the NHS after so many years, needs reform.Villagecranberry

Andrewsharp1 wrote…

cynicalsue wrote…

I suppose it's all part of the plan to run the hospital down and close it. I just hope not.

This issue is directly related to NHS cuts from central government. There is immense pressure on Barts Health to improve its finances. The pressure stems from the PFI payments for the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel which is a drain on Barts Health Trust's financial resources. This has caused a chain of events leading to low morale and staffing issues at Whipps causing a lack of beds for Waltham Forest's poorly kids. Please vote National Health Action Party in the European election on 22nd May. Contact me at NHAPartyWF@gmail.com if you wish to discuss issues and join the local NHA group for East London. Check out the party website. www.nhap.org

Rubbish, demand is overwhelming and the more money is piled into the NHS, the more demand for the service. Like the food bank myth, offer free food, the demand increases. When the NHS is giving out luxuries like Boob jobs and Gastric Band procedures out like confetti, whilst people are waiting in the same queue for knee, hip and important surgery, even cancer surgery, one must realise that something is ridiculously wrong and the NHS after so many years, needs reform.

Score: 2

Andrewsharp1 says...11:08am Thu 22 May 14

Villagecranberry, do you have any evidence to support those statements? Your comment about queues suggests you don't understand how waiting lists work.

Villagecranberry, do you have any evidence to support those statements? Your comment about queues suggests you don't understand how waiting lists work.Andrewsharp1

Villagecranberry, do you have any evidence to support those statements? Your comment about queues suggests you don't understand how waiting lists work.

Score: -1

Villagecranberry says...12:32pm Thu 22 May 14

Andrewsharp1 wrote…

Villagecranberry, do you have any evidence to support those statements? Your comment about queues suggests you don't understand how waiting lists work.

I have recently visited my niece in a Maternity Ward at Whipps and the place is full of East Europeans having had babies or about to give birth. Similarly, by word of mouth it is common knowledge that Whipps has numerous Europeans in hospital being cared for at all times. I have nurse friends who have told me horror stories of some unsavoury East European patients stealing from other sick patients on the wards. This is all the evidence I require as I see and hear things myself, am not interested in meaningless statistics. The system as it is, is wrong, I cannot blame Europeans coming here if they are entitled to, I blame and criticise the system, which in my view is affecting and throwing out the budgets as it cannot cater for a potential influx of millions of extra patients at a whim.

[quote][p][bold]Andrewsharp1[/bold] wrote:
Villagecranberry, do you have any evidence to support those statements? Your comment about queues suggests you don't understand how waiting lists work.[/p][/quote]I have recently visited my niece in a Maternity Ward at Whipps and the place is full of East Europeans having had babies or about to give birth. Similarly, by word of mouth it is common knowledge that Whipps has numerous Europeans in hospital being cared for at all times. I have nurse friends who have told me horror stories of some unsavoury East European patients stealing from other sick patients on the wards. This is all the evidence I require as I see and hear things myself, am not interested in meaningless statistics.
The system as it is, is wrong, I cannot blame Europeans coming here if they are entitled to, I blame and criticise the system, which in my view is affecting and throwing out the budgets as it cannot cater for a potential influx of millions of extra patients at a whim.Villagecranberry

Andrewsharp1 wrote…

Villagecranberry, do you have any evidence to support those statements? Your comment about queues suggests you don't understand how waiting lists work.

I have recently visited my niece in a Maternity Ward at Whipps and the place is full of East Europeans having had babies or about to give birth. Similarly, by word of mouth it is common knowledge that Whipps has numerous Europeans in hospital being cared for at all times. I have nurse friends who have told me horror stories of some unsavoury East European patients stealing from other sick patients on the wards. This is all the evidence I require as I see and hear things myself, am not interested in meaningless statistics. The system as it is, is wrong, I cannot blame Europeans coming here if they are entitled to, I blame and criticise the system, which in my view is affecting and throwing out the budgets as it cannot cater for a potential influx of millions of extra patients at a whim.

Score: 2

Andrewsharp1 says...12:46pm Thu 22 May 14

I was referring to your second post. Naturally the patients in a hospital will reflect the general population in the local area. Most immigrants come to the UK to work, they pay taxes, they are young and healthy. The general trend is that they pay more into the system than they use in the NHS. There is no reasonable argument against them being treated in the NHS. Also on the subject of immigrants, the NHS relies on the thousands of migrants who work within it. Visitors from overseas and migrants account for roughly 2p in every pound of NHS expenditure. It's also worth bearing in mind that twice as many foreign visitors pay to use the NHS as receive 'free' healthcare and that more British people get treatment abroad than foreigners receive treatment here.

I was referring to your second post.
Naturally the patients in a hospital will reflect the general population in the local area. Most immigrants come to the UK to work, they pay taxes, they are young and healthy. The general trend is that they pay more into the system than they use in the NHS. There is no reasonable argument against them being treated in the NHS. Also on the subject of immigrants, the NHS relies on the thousands of migrants who work within it. Visitors from overseas and migrants account for roughly 2p in every pound of NHS expenditure.
It's also worth bearing in mind that twice as many foreign visitors pay to use the NHS as receive 'free' healthcare and that more British people get treatment abroad than foreigners receive treatment here.Andrewsharp1

I was referring to your second post. Naturally the patients in a hospital will reflect the general population in the local area. Most immigrants come to the UK to work, they pay taxes, they are young and healthy. The general trend is that they pay more into the system than they use in the NHS. There is no reasonable argument against them being treated in the NHS. Also on the subject of immigrants, the NHS relies on the thousands of migrants who work within it. Visitors from overseas and migrants account for roughly 2p in every pound of NHS expenditure. It's also worth bearing in mind that twice as many foreign visitors pay to use the NHS as receive 'free' healthcare and that more British people get treatment abroad than foreigners receive treatment here.

Score: -1

Villagecranberry says...4:07pm Thu 22 May 14

Andrewsharp1 wrote…

I was referring to your second post. Naturally the patients in a hospital will reflect the general population in the local area. Most immigrants come to the UK to work, they pay taxes, they are young and healthy. The general trend is that they pay more into the system than they use in the NHS. There is no reasonable argument against them being treated in the NHS. Also on the subject of immigrants, the NHS relies on the thousands of migrants who work within it. Visitors from overseas and migrants account for roughly 2p in every pound of NHS expenditure. It's also worth bearing in mind that twice as many foreign visitors pay to use the NHS as receive 'free' healthcare and that more British people get treatment abroad than foreigners receive treatment here.

Yes, They are entitled to receive free treatment and I have not implied that they are not if they are EU members. I am saying that you cannot have this free for all policy and then wonder why waiting lists are bad as the contingency planning is a difficult tak if you potentially have millions entitled to use the service by jumping on a Ryan Air flight for twenty pounds for a two hour journey. As for Brits using European hospitals I'd rather be treated on the NHS than some ramshackle clinic in Bulgaria and the like. As for overseas non-EU members, I think you are wrong here as the NHS are owed millions for treatments of patients and drugs by people who have scarpered home after free treatment and those tasked to chase up and monitor payments are as incompetent as the border force who are meant to keep the wrong people out. The NHS have had organ and cancer patients presenting themselves at a hospital, receiving millions in treatment and just going off again. We cannot be a hospital refuge for the entire world.

[quote][p][bold]Andrewsharp1[/bold] wrote:
I was referring to your second post.
Naturally the patients in a hospital will reflect the general population in the local area. Most immigrants come to the UK to work, they pay taxes, they are young and healthy. The general trend is that they pay more into the system than they use in the NHS. There is no reasonable argument against them being treated in the NHS. Also on the subject of immigrants, the NHS relies on the thousands of migrants who work within it. Visitors from overseas and migrants account for roughly 2p in every pound of NHS expenditure.
It's also worth bearing in mind that twice as many foreign visitors pay to use the NHS as receive 'free' healthcare and that more British people get treatment abroad than foreigners receive treatment here.[/p][/quote]Yes, They are entitled to receive free treatment and I have not implied that they are not if they are EU members. I am saying that you cannot have this free for all policy and then wonder why waiting lists are bad as the contingency planning is a difficult tak if you potentially have millions entitled to use the service by jumping on a Ryan Air flight for twenty pounds for a two hour journey. As for Brits using European hospitals I'd rather be treated on the NHS than some ramshackle clinic in Bulgaria and the like.
As for overseas non-EU members, I think you are wrong here as the NHS are owed millions for treatments of patients and drugs by people who have scarpered home after free treatment and those tasked to chase up and monitor payments are as incompetent as the border force who are meant to keep the wrong people out.
The NHS have had organ and cancer patients presenting themselves at a hospital, receiving millions in treatment and just going off again.
We cannot be a hospital refuge for the entire world.Villagecranberry

Andrewsharp1 wrote…

I was referring to your second post. Naturally the patients in a hospital will reflect the general population in the local area. Most immigrants come to the UK to work, they pay taxes, they are young and healthy. The general trend is that they pay more into the system than they use in the NHS. There is no reasonable argument against them being treated in the NHS. Also on the subject of immigrants, the NHS relies on the thousands of migrants who work within it. Visitors from overseas and migrants account for roughly 2p in every pound of NHS expenditure. It's also worth bearing in mind that twice as many foreign visitors pay to use the NHS as receive 'free' healthcare and that more British people get treatment abroad than foreigners receive treatment here.

Yes, They are entitled to receive free treatment and I have not implied that they are not if they are EU members. I am saying that you cannot have this free for all policy and then wonder why waiting lists are bad as the contingency planning is a difficult tak if you potentially have millions entitled to use the service by jumping on a Ryan Air flight for twenty pounds for a two hour journey. As for Brits using European hospitals I'd rather be treated on the NHS than some ramshackle clinic in Bulgaria and the like. As for overseas non-EU members, I think you are wrong here as the NHS are owed millions for treatments of patients and drugs by people who have scarpered home after free treatment and those tasked to chase up and monitor payments are as incompetent as the border force who are meant to keep the wrong people out. The NHS have had organ and cancer patients presenting themselves at a hospital, receiving millions in treatment and just going off again. We cannot be a hospital refuge for the entire world.

Score: -1

dougal missy says...1:20pm Fri 23 May 14

@ AndrewSharp 1 I would advise you to rise above Villagecranberry and there bigoted ill informed comments. His/her snide nasty little comments aimed at my young drama students featured in this weeks guardian have been removed. Clearly a mayor chip on shoulder

@ AndrewSharp 1
I would advise you to rise above Villagecranberry and there bigoted ill informed comments. His/her snide nasty little comments aimed at my young drama students featured in this weeks guardian have been removed. Clearly a mayor chip on shoulderdougal missy

@ AndrewSharp 1 I would advise you to rise above Villagecranberry and there bigoted ill informed comments. His/her snide nasty little comments aimed at my young drama students featured in this weeks guardian have been removed. Clearly a mayor chip on shoulder

Score: 1

Andrewsharp1 says...9:39am Sat 24 May 14

dougal missy wrote…

@ AndrewSharp 1 I would advise you to rise above Villagecranberry and there bigoted ill informed comments. His/her snide nasty little comments aimed at my young drama students featured in this weeks guardian have been removed. Clearly a mayor chip on shoulder

I have decided to do just that as vc has expressed no interest in responding to my earlier request for proper evidence to back up claims

[quote][p][bold]dougal missy[/bold] wrote:
@ AndrewSharp 1
I would advise you to rise above Villagecranberry and there bigoted ill informed comments. His/her snide nasty little comments aimed at my young drama students featured in this weeks guardian have been removed. Clearly a mayor chip on shoulder[/p][/quote]I have decided to do just that as vc has expressed no interest in responding to my earlier request for proper evidence to back up claimsAndrewsharp1

dougal missy wrote…

@ AndrewSharp 1 I would advise you to rise above Villagecranberry and there bigoted ill informed comments. His/her snide nasty little comments aimed at my young drama students featured in this weeks guardian have been removed. Clearly a mayor chip on shoulder

I have decided to do just that as vc has expressed no interest in responding to my earlier request for proper evidence to back up claims

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